Prevent turnover with exit and stay interviews

The labor market shortage is so severe that restaurants close their doors one or two days a week, departments in institutions shut down because they cannot care for their residents, and construction companies postpone or even refuse projects because skilled tradespeople are extremely hard to find. So take good care of your employees and try to retain them. Exit and stay interviews can help limit unwanted turnover. Want to know the costs of employee turnover within your organization? Download this e-guide to calculate it! And that's not all… This e-guide also contains 10 practical tips, fully supported by research such as Gallup, to reduce employee turnover within your organization.

What are the 6 W's of an exit interview?

An exit interview is conducted with employees who are about to leave. Their input can help prevent more employees from leaving. An exit interview answers questions such as: how did the employee experience their time at the organization, what things can be improved, and what is the reason for departure? Topics that can be discussed are the following 6 W's:

Work content: task package, variety of activities;
Work conditions: safety, drafts, cold, heat;
Work relationships: collaboration with managers and colleagues;
Work terms: working hours, primary and secondary employment conditions;
Work atmosphere: enjoyment of work, sociability;
Work load: work pressure, irregular working hours.

How departing employees become ambassadors

In the exit interview, departing employees can also vent a little. Better in a private conversation than on social media. If they see that their reasons for leaving lead to actions to address these reasons, that will feel good to them. Better late than never, they will think, and perhaps they will become an ambassador for their former employer in the job market.

Stay interviews

The disadvantage of exit interviews is: 'they come too late for the employee who is leaving!' The outcomes can no longer change the minds of those departing, but they can influence those who remain and are also thinking about leaving. Therefore, conduct annual so-called stay interviews in which employees casually answer questions such as:

what are the reasons you still work for us?
what do you enjoy most about your job?
if you were approached by a headhunter, why didn't you accept their proposal?
which strengths do we leverage and how can we further develop them?
if we as an organization can do things better, what areas does that concern?

Enrich the 'pleasing' aspects of a position and work environment to further increase employee job satisfaction and retain them in the organization.

How to retain employees with the 6 W's?

The 6 W's of the exit interview can of course also be used in the stay interview. If the Work content is varied and challenging and there is a proper balance between Work load and capacity, those are already two fewer reasons to leave. Employees who have one foot out the door can be retained with appropriate measures.

With the outcomes of exit and stay interviews, the reasons for leaving and staying become clear. This allows the organization to develop policies to combat unwanted turnover, which is a profitable investment in a time of labor market shortage.

With the Learned platform, you get the insights you really need. Namely, which high performer you need to have a conversation with to keep them engaged with your organization.

Image explanation: The Learned platform combines data from the platform to predict which of your high performers have an increased chance of leaving.